What is external wall insulation all about?

We want to make our homes greener as part of our journey to be carbon neutral.

For several years we have been carrying out improvements to make homes warmer, more comfortable and more energy efficient with external wall insulation, often shortened to EWI.

Since 2012 we have installed EWI at over 4000 of our homes, but what is it?

It’s a layer of insulation that is added to the outside wall of a home in boards before being covered in a durable render finish to help protect the insulation and make your home look great.

As it minimises heat loss in cold weather and heat gain in warm weather, you’ll enjoy a more comfortable home throughout the year, plus smaller heating bills. In fact The Energy Saving Trust estimates that heating costs can be reduced by up to 40%.

Thanks to its decorative outer layer, your home will look refreshed and the finishes we use are high quality and designed to be low maintenance over a long period of time.

Recently we caught up with our tenant liaison officer Laura, who has been part of the programme since 2017 and involved in over 400 EWIs across the borough. She talks us through the process:
“Our surveyors identify homes that could benefit from EWI and I visit the tenants with our contractor to talk about the work.

“I’m their main point of contact throughout, which is important so they know what is happening, how they can prepare for the work, by moving things like items in the garden to accommodate the scaffolding and being aware that it can be noisy.

“How long the work takes depends on the type of home and weather. If it’s very cold, rainy or unusually hot this can cause delay, but my job is to keep tenants updated on the progress made.

“The good news is we don’t need to access the inside of your homes as everything is carried out outside. The work makes a huge difference not just to how the home looks but how comfortable it is for the tenant to live in, so it’s really rewarding being involved in this work.”

Mrs Davies who had work carried out recently said:
“My home looks brand new and the work has made a big difference to the damp problems I’ve had in my house. Very happy so thank you all.”